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German Embassy in Muscat
German Embassy in Muscat
Muscat, Oman
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Other Projects by Hoehler + alSalmy
German Embassy in Muscat
Muscat, Oman
Firm
STATUS
Built
YEAR
2017
SIZE
3000 sqft - 5000 sqft
Photos
The German Embassy is located in the Diplomatic quarter of Muscat in the Sultanate of Oman with its premises becoming the new one of a kind landmark structure in the embassy district.
The compound includes the Chancellery building and the ambassador’s Residence; all surrounded with the traditional plantation of the country at the external reception areas.
The main Embassy building itself is carefully lifted from the ground and is therefore visually only touching down at the access areas to create a floating affect over the local materialized hardscape.
The Soft landscaping of the premises takes reference to the green Omani “Wadi”- Oasis-like valleys scattering across the site. These Wadis are an integral part of the projects' dewatering system and assure that the plot is never flooded – even in times of extremely heavy rain during the rainy season in an otherwise extremely hot and dry environment.
The strategically positioned Chancellery and Residence buildings together form distinguished open spaces:
- the Forecourt of the chancellery with a very urban character, representative the reception entry and drop off area.
- a Palm Tree yard is situated between the two buildings representative a luxurious plaza for receptions of the residency. Local natural stone slabs surround the water features taking reference to the Omani “Falaj” system – open water channels that have been used for thousands of years to transport water from the Mountains. The purposely placed local date palm trees form a natural shading roof- not only defining the space but above all, provide dates for the yearly harvest.
- the Private garden for recreation and more intimate events is defined by lush green soft landscaping from the local plants.
All main facades are oriented towards these plazas allowing a vivid and representative background. The designed features combining both contemporary German and traditional Omani elements, whilst its structure is based on stringent proportional rules. This at the same time reflects on numerous features of the local design language, i.e. vertical bands of windows or the “Mashrabyia”, a traditional ornamental shading screen, which is an essential element of Omani Architecture: Throughout Omani history, the Mashrabyia has been a significant figure within local architectural heritage. The households adapted the Mashrabyia design to serve both cultural and functional requirements; culturally providing privacy by restricting the view in or out of a window whilst maintaining air circulation.
In terms of functionality, the Mashrabiya serves as a shading device which filters the excessive sun light. This therefore greatly reduces heat building up and creating a comfortable living and working environment as well as maintaining adequate light inside the house. In the new Embassy facilities, the window screens are applied in the same way and fulfil essential privacy, self-shading and especially for security purposes.
Protruding vertical bands to the main facades improve the self-shading effect of the building. These bands are adjusted to the path of the sun – hence the southern facades are longer in depth, minimizing the time of direct sun exposure.
In order to cope with the rather high adjoining embassies, the facades seek to stretch vertically and include a parapet area into the structure of the main elevations. Internally, all main functions are directed towards these elevations, whereas the secondary side elevations underline the monolithic effect of the buildings by minimized openings, which also respects security considerations. This effect is supported by the Omani natural stone cladding, which also emphasizes the representative character of the buildings.
While external appearance of the Chancellery is following a strict orthogonal grid, its interior bears a surprise to the visitor. The main atrium is based on the traditional Omani “Majlis” - an Arabic term meaning “a place of sitting”, used in the context of ‘council’, to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups be it administrative, social or religious. In Oman, a Majlis is usually an open space at the entrance to public and domestic buildings. One of the main characteristics are the laid-out carpets, dominating the space. In the Middle East, carpets and rugs have been widely used for centuries, and especially the Omani carpets have long been recognised as the finest examples of art in their own right.
The main atrium in the Chancellery is also a public space for meeting, waiting and circulation – but instead of a regular carpet or rug, the unique flow of people within the void has been carefully studied and is woven into a three dimensional sculpture. The mapping of human flow forms a grid system to which the stairs, ceiling void and floor zoning all obey. The threads are still visible, though, on the floor: polished metal lines embedded into different shades of Omani Marble trace the threads and hint at the underlaying blueprint.
The iconic design of the new German Embassy premises reflects the new area of Omani architectural identity, combining the highest German building standards and design language with traditional Omani architecture and low-tech approaches to sustainability and building physics.
The compound includes the Chancellery building and the ambassador’s Residence; all surrounded with the traditional plantation of the country at the external reception areas.
The main Embassy building itself is carefully lifted from the ground and is therefore visually only touching down at the access areas to create a floating affect over the local materialized hardscape.
The Soft landscaping of the premises takes reference to the green Omani “Wadi”- Oasis-like valleys scattering across the site. These Wadis are an integral part of the projects' dewatering system and assure that the plot is never flooded – even in times of extremely heavy rain during the rainy season in an otherwise extremely hot and dry environment.
The strategically positioned Chancellery and Residence buildings together form distinguished open spaces:
- the Forecourt of the chancellery with a very urban character, representative the reception entry and drop off area.
- a Palm Tree yard is situated between the two buildings representative a luxurious plaza for receptions of the residency. Local natural stone slabs surround the water features taking reference to the Omani “Falaj” system – open water channels that have been used for thousands of years to transport water from the Mountains. The purposely placed local date palm trees form a natural shading roof- not only defining the space but above all, provide dates for the yearly harvest.
- the Private garden for recreation and more intimate events is defined by lush green soft landscaping from the local plants.
All main facades are oriented towards these plazas allowing a vivid and representative background. The designed features combining both contemporary German and traditional Omani elements, whilst its structure is based on stringent proportional rules. This at the same time reflects on numerous features of the local design language, i.e. vertical bands of windows or the “Mashrabyia”, a traditional ornamental shading screen, which is an essential element of Omani Architecture: Throughout Omani history, the Mashrabyia has been a significant figure within local architectural heritage. The households adapted the Mashrabyia design to serve both cultural and functional requirements; culturally providing privacy by restricting the view in or out of a window whilst maintaining air circulation.
In terms of functionality, the Mashrabiya serves as a shading device which filters the excessive sun light. This therefore greatly reduces heat building up and creating a comfortable living and working environment as well as maintaining adequate light inside the house. In the new Embassy facilities, the window screens are applied in the same way and fulfil essential privacy, self-shading and especially for security purposes.
Protruding vertical bands to the main facades improve the self-shading effect of the building. These bands are adjusted to the path of the sun – hence the southern facades are longer in depth, minimizing the time of direct sun exposure.
In order to cope with the rather high adjoining embassies, the facades seek to stretch vertically and include a parapet area into the structure of the main elevations. Internally, all main functions are directed towards these elevations, whereas the secondary side elevations underline the monolithic effect of the buildings by minimized openings, which also respects security considerations. This effect is supported by the Omani natural stone cladding, which also emphasizes the representative character of the buildings.
While external appearance of the Chancellery is following a strict orthogonal grid, its interior bears a surprise to the visitor. The main atrium is based on the traditional Omani “Majlis” - an Arabic term meaning “a place of sitting”, used in the context of ‘council’, to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups be it administrative, social or religious. In Oman, a Majlis is usually an open space at the entrance to public and domestic buildings. One of the main characteristics are the laid-out carpets, dominating the space. In the Middle East, carpets and rugs have been widely used for centuries, and especially the Omani carpets have long been recognised as the finest examples of art in their own right.
The main atrium in the Chancellery is also a public space for meeting, waiting and circulation – but instead of a regular carpet or rug, the unique flow of people within the void has been carefully studied and is woven into a three dimensional sculpture. The mapping of human flow forms a grid system to which the stairs, ceiling void and floor zoning all obey. The threads are still visible, though, on the floor: polished metal lines embedded into different shades of Omani Marble trace the threads and hint at the underlaying blueprint.
The iconic design of the new German Embassy premises reflects the new area of Omani architectural identity, combining the highest German building standards and design language with traditional Omani architecture and low-tech approaches to sustainability and building physics.
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